Arriving at the end of the day was probably even more unusual. But as he walked along, he saw the first sign of progress, a small pub which had some firelight inside. The combined shiver of the afternoon air and the thought of the warmth inside made Edwin pull his cloak a little tighter around him. If there was anywhere to gain some information, a few tongues loosened from alcohol or a friendly barkeep wasn’t the worst place to start.

  But as he walked towards the only sign of life, Edwin passed a clear space that probably passed as the town square where he spied two large piles of wood, and at first the redhead didn’t think anything of it until the second pile gave him pause. Every stick had been sharpened to a fine point. Running his finger along the rough carvings, he could tell they had been hewn recently, the sharp tips still rough from the knife strokes that had carved them.

  Opening the pub’s door and walking inside, Edwin had to adjust his eyesight from how comparatively dim it was inside. Edwin saw there were quite a few people inside. While the inside couldn’t be considered clean, looking at the barkeep’s worn out, but somewhat recently washed shirt, it would seem the state of the pub was more due to wear and tear rather than laziness. As he walked, the patrons quieted to look at the stranger. The looked wary, but their expressions seemed to say “Just don’t cause any trouble”, rather than anything aggressive.

  Edwin smiled in an easygoing manner. Accents and colloquialisms changed so easily, but faces remained a constant. But as he took in the sight of the patrons, things weren’t quite right. They were silent and subdued. Conversation was minimal and what little there was, men only spoke in hushed whispers. Edwin had a feeling there would need to be lots of alcohol to make things easier since a sober man wasn’t as simple to ferret information. But as he sat at the bar, some lizard meat ordered, Edwin decided to sound out the bartender, “This seems a quiet place.”

  Nodding, “This is the kind of place nobody really comes around, and nobody complains.”

  “Seems like this place has had the life taken right out of it.”

  The barkeep’s eyes took on a peculiar glint, “That is certainly one way of putting it. People are afraid, but hopefully not for much longer.”

  “You folks been having trouble of some kind”, Edwin asked in an innocent tone.

  Glancing around, the barkeep lowered his voice, “Just between us, there has been terrible things goin’ on ever since the snow melted.”

  Filling his eyes with concern, Edwin asked, “That sounds rough. Did someone freeze to death?”

  The barkeep shook his head, “Not that kind of things. The whole Bennet family who lived just inside the forest”, the man couldn’t even finish as his eyes looked misty.

  Edwin gently prodded, “What happened?”

  “Nobody is sure. A friend went to go visit after the snow melted and found the house destroyed, and the whole family dead, and Old Man Bennet himself missing.”

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  Now that was something of note, “This happened recently?”

  The barkeep threw a cloth over his shoulder and frowned, “You passed the town square, right? What do you think all those sharpened sticks are for? Some say it be a monster, but I say that is a load of sh*t”, Edwin made a face of concern, prompting the man to continue, “They said the house was full of blood. If it were a monster, it wouldn’t have happened in the winter hibernation, but there’s none of that”, he leaned in like he was telling a secret, “You ask me, either it’s a demon or that forest dweller.”

  Edwin drummed his fingers, “Suppose I just need to stay away from there. I am actually here on business, if you know where someone may be.”

  The barkeep cocked his bald head, “That’ll have people talking. The only ‘businessmen’ we get around here are maybe a monster hunter looking for lodging.”

  “I’ll probably be the talk of the town for a short while then.”

  “Heh heh, well that all depends. Where are you headed?”

  Thatch adopted the face of a poor bereaved traveler, “I’m not sure. I’ve been wandering for some time and I’ve had trouble finding the person my employer told me about”

  “Well, whoever your friend is, you can ask near anyone if they’ve seen anything.”

  Edwin didn’t let it show, but he was certain he had the man, “I was told his name is Pradip.”

  The barkeep dropped the glass he was holding and snapped his gaze at Thatch. Whatever subtlety he thought he had was gone. The pub’s silence before was from a subdued feeling, but now the silence was focused. The air inside the pub felt charged and Edwin could tell the few patrons near him were thinking about more than just eavesdropping.

  “What business do you have with him?”

  “A certain someone told me to find him and I have business with him”, Edwin explained cryptically.

  The barkeep was looking at him highly suspiciously now, “Pradip doesn’t have business. The only form of business he’ll be getting is whatever the people outside decide on.”

  Edwin mimicked shock and surprise, “You think he’s the one who killed the Bennets?”

  The barkeep shook his head, “He’s the forest dweller I told you about before..”

  “Does he practice something he shouldn’t be?”

  Rubbing his arm with an invisible chill, “I only ever met the man once. Never even saw his face. Man wears a veil and never spoke to anyone, just muttered a bunch of nonsense. Something about a job not being done.

  Nodding, Edwin laid down exact change on the table and headed for the woods.

  “You’re going alone?”, the barkeep called out, his voice not sounding concerned and his hands moving slowly behind the bar, doing something aside from drawing a draft. As Edwin placed his hand on the door, he still heard conversation, but it was clearly more artificial, “Don’t you want a guide or maybe a guard? It may be better if you go in the morning.”

  Opening the door, Edwin knew he was taking a risk, possibly agitating the locals, but he needed to understand what he was walking into, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  As the door was closing, he watched the expressions of the barkeep. His face quickly ranged from shocked to suspicious and even maybe treacherous. As Edwin walked towards the treeline, the sun rapidly disappearing, letting the darkness stalk across the land, he put his guard up. He knew potentially agitating the locals was a bad idea, but walking through town, only to march into the forest where a distrusted hermit lives would probably cause them to assume the worst. From what he gathered, Pradip was an outsider, but the relationship between him and the village wasn’t hostile… yet. Whatever was making people go missing, this Pradip clearly made for a convenient scapegoat.